


Trust is a precious thing to give

by Miss_FourLeafClover



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-14
Packaged: 2018-03-06 17:44:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3143033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_FourLeafClover/pseuds/Miss_FourLeafClover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first of september. New year, new adventures.<br/>George finally told Teddy the truth, and is not sure if that was a good idea or not.<br/>Teddy meets a dubious fellow student, who transferred from Durmstrang. Why has he come back and what is he up to? This has to be investigated!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. platform 9.3/4 - George Weasley

“C’mon you guys! We’re in a hurry! You wouldn’t wanna miss your first train!”  
“It’s not my first!” a voice replied.   
George sighed and checked the clock above the doorway and immediately regretted that decision when he saw the time. He just wanted to scream for the kids again, but then realized he had put the clock five minutes before real time. That way, he avoided being horribly late. Now he was only a little late on his appointments.  
He heard some clutter on the stairs and a few moments later, Ted appeared with a head as red as a tomato. He was trying to slip two trunks at once down the stairs, and he just managed to do that.   
After a little giggle because of Ted’s head, George took his place and slipped the trunks of the last three steps.   
“Being a gentleman, are we?” He asked with a wink. Ted got even more red and mumbled some incomprehensible words. He ignored Georges suggestive smile and ran up the stairs to get his backpack.   
George looked at him with mixed feelings. Past summer, he finally got himself to tell Ted his story. About how it was possible that Ted managed to transform himself at pleasure when both his mum and dad weren’t able to do that. About how he became an orphan on the last night of the war. About how his godfather didn’t feel able to take care of little Ted, because he wasn’t himself any longer after months of hardship and dueling with a wizard imbued with evil forces. And about how the great Harry Potter asked him, George Weasley, hartbroken by the loss of his twin brother, wanted to take care of Ted.   
And George agreed, not knowing what he got himself into, but he agreed.  
It was only later that George realized why he had agreed with this proposal. At the time, it seemed reckless to get to take care of a one-year old orphan, but it was just what George needed to prevent himself from ending up in depressed state where even his job would remind him of Fred. If he hadn’t had something else to worry about –taking care of a one-year old orphan that you didn’t actually know was something to worry about– he would’ve gone mad with grief. Taking care of this helpless child that certainly was not better off than George, helped him giving the loss of his brother kind of a place. Of course he missed his brother, there wasn’t a day passed that he didn’t think of him. But he managed to remember him in the best way that’s possible.  
Since he told Ted that his biological parents were killed by Voldemort in the grate battle and that Harry had asked George to take care of him, the bond between the two had changed. George fully understood that it took Ted some time to get used to this new information, but George missed the time where Ted saw him as a father, instead of a ‘second option care-taker’.   
And besides that, Ted asked lots of questions that Georges couldn’t answer. He never asked himself questions about why Harry specially asked him, or why nobody disagreed with this risky situation. Give as many arguments as you want, but a twenty-year old boy that just lost his twin brother, is not the best person to raise a child.   
That made that their relationship had changed. And although George knew that this was a logical consequence of telling Ted the story, he still regretted the situation.

He woke up from his thoughts when Ted and Lia ran into the kitchen, filled with excitement. Their enthusiasm was contagious and a smile appeared on Georges face.  
“Now, is everybody ready for a new adventure?” he asked mysteriously.   
Lia almost died with excitement and ran off to the car. George had never seen somebody that happy to go to Hogwarts. He waved his wand and the two trunks flew themselves into the car, followed by George and Ted.  
George had never been that happy that his father started up this magic car factory. The car – a present for his twenty-fifth birthday – smoothly worked his way through the London traffic so that they arrived precisely on time.   
George went for a cart and guided the kids to the platform where the magical Howarts Express was awaiting them. Although he’d seen this train year after year, he still felt deeply happy just by looking at the majestic vehicle. He wondered if the lady with the snacks still sold candy to the students. But he didn’t had the time to reminisce some good old memories, ‘cause Ted had seen the Potters and he called for them, even they stood too far to hear him.  
“C’mon, let’s go and see how they’re doing. I bet Ron needs another box of Nosebleed Nugget.”  
Ted looked at him, not understanding why his uncle would need those kinds of candies. He despised them, after Ted and George changed his real nuggets with Nosebleed-ones with Christmas two years ago. It was a hell of a joke, but unfortunately, Ron thought of it in another way. It took him seven weeks to stop by Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes again.   
“He can’t get rid of the gnomes in his garden, so he tries out a different strategy.” George explained with a grin.   
Ted laughed by imagining the picture of a gnome that had just eaten a Nosebleed Nugget. Of all inventions of the Weasley twins, this was by far his favorite. He couldn’t get enough of the look on people’s faces when their nose started bleeding out of nowhere.

Albus noticed them coming by and ran off to his cousin, who catched the toddler an swung him around.   
George and Harry greeted each other, and he hugged his sister.  
“I heard there’s another one coming?” George opened the conversation. “It’s about time for The Talk, shouldn’t you think? I should probably warn dad...”  
“George! Not in front of my son!” Ginny reprimanded, but also smiled a little.  
“Congratulations, sis, I was just joking –“What’s new”, mumbled Ted. – I’m very happy for you guys. So, when do I have to plan the Welcome New Potter-Party? I’m a busy man, you know.”  
“It’s planned for April, but we’ll let you know on time, since you’re a very busy man” Harry replied smoothly.  
George grinned, but then had to pay fully attention to Lia, who pulled his sleeve. She was extremely nervous about something, but clearly didn’t want anyone to hear what it was about. George squatted, so he looked her right in the eyes.   
“Tell me, Sweetie”  
Lia’s chin was shaky, but she pulled herself together an said a bit insecure: “I just wished mummy was here to say goodbye.”  
“Oh, honey, I know you want her to be here, but she really couldn’t make it here. She’s chasing this naughty wizards who changed some doorknobs by portkeys, so those poor muggles show up in the most bizarre places. And as you know, naughty kids deserve a punishment, and that’s the same for naughty wizards. So now mummy is giving him a good lecture, she’s good at giving lectures, don’t you think?”  
Lia’s chin stopped shaking and George could see a glimpse of a smile on her face. She nodded her head and hugged her dad before running to the train and taking her sitting spot between Ted and Eric, Charlies oldest.  
George joined the Potters, took Lily in his arm and together they waved goodbye, as the train was going faster and faster until it finally disappeared. 

George turned and looked at Harry and Ginny, who looked at him as if he’d just said goodbye forever.  
“Oh, come on, we’re not going to grief about our kids having the time of their life, are we? And where for god’s sake is Ron? I’m starving!”  
Harry smiled en Ginny told him Ron was waiting outside with his kids. Hermoine didn’t wanted Hugo to see the train, because she was too afraid he would make a scene because he couldn’t go on it.  
As they turned back, George reproached himself for forgetting to put a Weasly’s Wondrous Surprise Packet into the kids their trunks.


	2. Platform 9.3/4 - Teddy Lupin Weasley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first of september. Teddy is ready to go to school, after a rather turbulent holiday. He discovered some things that turned his whole life upside down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter shows the same as chapter one, but seen trough Teddy's eyes.

Ted heard his father calling from downstairs. Well actually, he didn’t know whether to call him his father just George Weasley. Since he told him past summer that he was kind of adopted by George, Ted was confused about his entire life. Everything he considered normal, was now turned upside-down. There were a lot of questions that George couldn’t answer, which made it even more confusing.  
Lia walked into his room, looking very concerned about something. She shuffled a bit in the doorway, and Ted tapped the spot next to him on the bed. Lia took a seat, but still didn’t say a word.  
“C’mon, talk.” Ted simply said.  
“What has happened between you and daddy?” she immediately opened the conversation.  
Ted remained silent. He didn’t know if it was a good thing to tell her about the situation. Both for their parents and him, it was a confusing time. But on the other hand, it felt wrong not to tell the truth to his sister. So he told her.  
As suspected, Lia reacted shocked. Lia had always been a bit of a drama queen, but even for her standards, this was overdone. She looked at Ted, her eyes filled with compassion and her hands covering her mouth. After a few moments, she moved her arms towards Ted to give him a hug.  
Ted shove over to the other side of the bed to get out of her embrace. The last thing he needed, was compassion. He needed someone to tell him exactly what happened from the moment he was born until the moment he got to live with George. He felt betrayed, that was what bothered him.  
Lia shook her head and mumbled something. It must be confusing for her as well, Ted thought.  
But they didn’t get the chance to discuss the matter properly (thank God!) because they heard their father shuffling like he always did when they were hopelessly late. What would follow, was never pleasant, so they got off the bed and collected their luggage.  
“C’mon, get your backpack, I’ll get the trunks” Ted said.  
He managed to get downstairs without damaging the trunks or himself.  
George made some comment on Ted being a gentlemen, which nearly drove Ted crazy. His dad was always full of comments, one more appropriate than another, but Ted never managed to say something back. The only thing that popped into his mind on those occasions, was the panicking thought of ‘where did my quick thinking ability go?’.  
To avoid another comment, he quickly ran to his room to get his own backpack crossing Lia in the corridor. She apparently had forgotten about Teds concerns and hopped from one feet on the other.  
“Isn’t it amazing? I am going to learn to be a witch!” She squeaked.  
“You are a witch,” Ted reminded her, “You are going to learn how to use your skills. That’s a major difference!”  
“Details!” Lia replied, “As long as I learn how to produce little glistening stars, all is well.”  
Ted laughed. Besides a drama queen, his sister was also a princess at heart. If it wasn’t for the required robes, Lia would turn up for class in a pink gown, finished with a little sparkling crown on top of her head.  
They finally made it to the car without any troubles that would cost them additional delay.  
They soon arrived to the station and now Ted got a bit nervous. It was always difficult to get to the magical platform without being noticed by muggles, but now they were accompanied with his sister dying of excitement and pulling attention from everyone within a radius of five meters.  
Nevertheless, they reached the platform and the red Hogwarts Express welcomed them with a thick plume of steam.  
They were noticed by Albus Potter, who seemed to have developed a sixth sense to notice his nephew. He came waddling towards Ted, who picked him up and swung him around.  
He put him down when he saw Eric and ran towards him. He and his nephew were best mates. Ted hugged him and quickly whispered in his ear that he needed to tell him something.  
Eric nodded and they got in the train. All the kids were still kissing their parents goodbye, so the train was almost empty. A perfect place to tell Eric about his adoption story.  
“Why did nobody ever tell me this?” was his first reaction to the whole story. Eric always felt like he needed to know everything, even if it was none of his business. It was a relief to Ted, to be able to tell this without being treated like an orphan or something. He did have parents, you know.  
“But anyhow,” Eric continued, “we have to look this matter out to the bottom of it!” he concluded decidedly. He immediately started making plans on who they had to question and what methods they should need for that.  
“I have the feeling that this year is going to be very interesting.” He grinned.  
Ted smiled back and they went outside to say goodbye.

They filled their travelling time with telling their vacation stories. Eric told some great stories about the dragons he visited at his father’s work and how he nearly got burned. Eric always had amazing stories, although they weren’t always that parallel with reality. But he sure knew how to spice things up, and that always made his stories interesting and worth listening.  
Ted also told about how he had been training a lot for quidditch, he was determined to make it to the team this year. He was in the middle of describing a spectacular maneuver that he performed, when they were disturbed by some kid who walked into their compartment, without paying attention to them and taking a seat. He picked a bean from his box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and sucked it, making horrible smacking noises.  
Eric, Ted and Lia looked at him in disbelief.  
“Uhm, excuse me, but who are you and why do you come walking in our compartment like that?” Eric asked the boy.  
“Oh, you reserved this compartment? I’m sorry, I didn’t see the sign.” He stood up, walked to the door but instead of leaving, he observed it for a while.  
“Nope, I don’t see any names on this. That means this is a not your possession but a public area, and therefore I am allowed to sit here when I want so.” He said with a haughty flair.  
As usual, Ted couldn’t think of any comments to make, but then Lia stood up. She walked to the door, pulled out her pink cherry-flavored lipstick and wrote ‘Lia’s compartment’ on the glass part of the door.  
“Now it is possession of mine, so either you leave us alone, or you tell us who you are.” She crossed her arms and stood right in front of the boy. He pulled his eyebrows and slowly stood up. He walked to the door and turned before he opened it.  
“First year, am I right? It was a big mistake to be so bossy on me, I don’t like that. I have to say that the students at Durmstrang are much friendlier than Hogwarts students. That is not a good image you are creating, young lady.” There was a mild threat in his voice that gave Ted chills. This was his little sister the boy was talking to, he couldn’t let that happen!  
“Brave guy you are, picking on a first year! Is this what they teach you at Durmstrang? Then hold your breath, ‘cause Hogwarts lessons will blow you away. I suggest you start in a lower class anyway. To get used to the atmosphere at Hogwarts, you know. ‘Cause we don’t take this nonsense. ” He didn’t know where that came from, but it felt good to speak up to this cocky kid.  
The boy’s face became red. “Very well, then.” He muttered, and disappeared.  
“Gee, Ted, what happened?” Eric asked with a slight tone of admiring. “I’ve never seen you do something like this! But it was brilliant! Stupid Durmstrang kid.”  
But Lia wasn’t that happy with his intervention. “I could’ve handle that myself, you know. Now they’ll think I can’t stand up for myself!” She wiped her hair behind her shoulders, turned around with one last furious look and left the compartment.  
Eric whistled long and soft. “wauw, that is what I call a diva! Where do you think she went? Anna won’t let her in her compartment, she is with her friends.”  
Ted shrugged, he didn’t care. He just wanted to help her, as an older brother he was supposed to do that. But if she didn’t appreciated it, that was fine by him.  
“Now she can prove that she can take care of her own.” Was the only thing he said.

Ted and Eric filled the remaining time with playing miniature quidditch, and that helped Ted forgetting about the incident. Miniature quidditch was the kind of game that required complete focus. You had to keep your eye on seven players at once, giving them instructions on how to fly. It was one of the latest inventions of their uncles, Harry and Ron. They had taken over the Quality Quiditch Supplies shop at Diagon Alley, after the owner had been killed by Voldemort.  
They bought a whole lot of candy from the lady with her candy cart, and by the time they had to change clothes, Ted felt a little sick. He and Eric had held a competition on who could eat the most Kettle Biscuits. Ted won, but he now regretted that.  
The train slowed down and finally stopped. They got out and took a good swig of fresh air.  
A deep voice called for the first years to gather for the boat trip to the castle. Ted felt bad for them, because it was a cold and windy evening and he hoped none of the little boats would capsize. He looked at the group of nervous kids that had assembled in front of Hagrid and searched for a red-haired girl, but before he could take a proper look, someone collided against him, so he had to take a step back.  
“She’ll do fine!” Eric assured him.  
They stepped into one of the carriages and got to sit with Gina Jordan and her friend. Ted felt a little nervous, within a few minutes, Lia was to be sorted in one of the four houses. He remembered when he was waiting in line to put the sorting hat on his head and wait for the verdict. Those were the most nerve-wrecking minutes in a Hogwarts student’s life. Having a name starting with the letter W wasn’t helping, since they ran through the list alphabetical.  
It was a relief that they could take place on the Gryffindor tables. The sorting hat was placed on a stool, waiting for complete silence before he started of his traditional song.

When the hat was finished, the students started clapping and cheering. Ted knew for sure that nobody truly understood what the song was about, since the hat always spoke with riddles, yet everybody was enthusiast after his annual speech.  
Professor Corner stepped forward and read the names of the first years. Thomas Evers was the first to be sorted in Gryffindor, followed by two other boys and for girls. After a period of time that, to Ted, looked like a decade, Lia was the only one left to be sorted. She walked to the stool with a large smile on her face and put the hat on. After a few moments, it shouted “Gryffindor!” and an applause raised from the Gryffindor table. The Weasley family was always sorted in Gryffindor, and whenever there was a new Weasley, each house student secretly hoped the kid would be sorted in Gryffindor. It had become kind of a tradition.  
When the cheering had ended, the headmaster, Professor Finch-Fletchley stood up.  
“After these wise words, there is nothing more left for me to say, except for this. I hope all of you may feel at home in this castle. Therefore, I ask every one of you to respect the rules. They are made to make it easier for you, not to bully you. For those who need a refreshment of the rules, the full list of forbidden objects and practical rules is available in Mister Filch’s office. Now, enjoy this delicious meal, and enjoy you first night of the year at Hogwarts!”  
Out of nowhere, the plates filled themselves with a delicious meal. Ted’s sick feeling disappeared by looking at the all the food.  
After they were completely satisfied, ted felt a bit woolly. He was glad that the festivity was over, so he could nest in the canopy bed that had been waiting for him all summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed my story.  
> Any suggestions on the sequal are welcome!


	3. So it begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted and Eric begin their new year at Hogwarts.  
> They've already found something worth a closer look. That perky Durmstrang kid is way too mysterious. They need to find out why he is here and, most important, who he is.

The next morning, Ted got awakened by a soft ticking noise. One look at the window explained where the sound came from. Apparently, the rain from last night hadn’t stopped. The clouds were unusually dark and the rain unusually hard for the time of the year. The chandeliers in the corridors needed to be lightened, because it was that dark.  
Ted got downstairs for breakfast and received his schedule. He learned from it that he would start his day with a two-hour lesson of herbology. That brightened the sombre morning for Ted. Herbology lessons were always cosy when it was raining. The ticking sound of raindrops on glass made it impossible for the teacher to talk, and professor Longbottum didn’t felt like shouting. So he found a solution for this. At the beginning of the year, all students started a project where they would work on in pairs all year. At the end of the year, they would be given a score on their projects. During these classes, professor Longbottum provided tea for the students, while they worked on their projects.  
Ted was really curious for this year’s project. Together with the other Gryffindor students and the Hufflepuff students, he gathered around the working benches. Professor Longbottum started with welcoming them back again and reminded them of the rules that were to be followed in the greenhouses. After that, he immediately started off with introducing this year’s project. Each pair of students would receive a seed, and it was their job to find out what seed it was in order to know how to treat it.  
One of the rules of the greenhouses was that the professor chose pairs. In that way, it was avoided that one kid stood aside all the time. Ted once heard that was because in his days, Professor Longbottum was that one kid that always left over when they had to pair up. Ted found it difficult to imagine that this self-assured person was once the loner of the house.  
Ted got paired up with Amanda Hanson from Hufflepuff. Amanda was the kind of girl that got a bit lost in the group. Ted couldn’t remember seeing her in his first two years at Hogwarts.  
“Hello, I’m Ted” he said.  
“I know,” she replied “I’m Amanda”.  
Ted was stunned by her quick reply. He realized he had dropped his jaw a bit and quickly closed it again.  
“You haven’t done quit an effort to remain unnoticed these past two years, have you?” she explained her retort.  
That wasn’t completely true. It was only because he was always with Eric that people noticed him. As Eric described it, he felt a constant urge to entertain people. Ted loved watching him while he was telling ghost stories about the dungeons to first years, who were then frightened to death to go to another potions class.  
Both Amanda and Ted had no idea which seed was given them, so they filled the rest of the lesson searching in their books. 

After class, Ted searched for Gina Jordan. She was the daughter of George’s best friend Lee. Gina and Ted had known each other for years, since their parents visited each other almost every week. He and Gina were really close, but only in a friend way. They both got really annoyed with people who kept suggesting they were dating. For Ted, that would feel like dating his sister, and he was sure Gina felt the same way.  
Ted had already managed to lose his schedule, so Gina had to guide him to the next class, which was Transfiguration. Arriving at the classroom, Ted realized they had transfiguration together with the Slytherin students. It was never pleasant attending a class together with Slytherin. The two houses still saw each other as rivals, and that was always associated with nasty curses in the corridors, sabotaging one another’s wands in class, etcetera. Professor Higgs was head of Slytherin, but luckily he was a decent member of the house so he didn't favor his students. If Ted was to believe his dad, the former head of Slytherin hadn't been that decent.  
Gina stumped his arm.  
“Look, there is a new student in Slytherin” she pointed at a boy who stood a bit outside of the group, paying close attention to the walls. “I wonder where he would come from.”  
Ted grew numb when he recognized the arrogant face.  
“He’s a Durmstrang student” Ted murmured.  
The kid saw Ted, and moved towards him. A light panic flared inside Ted. A few days ago, he had given a nasty comment on the boy and he was afraid that he was going to pay the price for that now.  
When the boy was standing in front of Ted, he reached his hand. Ted assumed he wanted him to shake it, so he did.  
“Hello, there. I don’t believe we've had a proper first meeting, have we? I am Oliver Scrimgeour, pleased to meet you.” A shimmering smile appeared on the boy’s face, exposing his completely symmetric and extremely white teeth.  
Ted was stunned. This couldn't be the same kid from the train. The boy he met in the train was perky and arrogant, a total difference compared with the polite boy whose hand he was now shaking.  
Ted remained silent, astonished by this change of attitude. Had his little sermon been effective?  
Oliver Scrimgeour pulled him back to reality. “Now is the moment were you introduce yourself” he helped Ted.  
“Oh, of course. Ted Weasley, nice to meet you too”  
“Now that’s all settled. We've had the polite formalities, we can now continue in disliking one another.” And with one measuring glance at the other Gryffindors, he turned and went back to where he stood.  
Gina had gazed the conversation with growing disbelief. “What was that all about?”  
“As I said, Durmstrang” Ted answered snobbish. It felt like Scrimgeour made a fool of Ted, and that made him moody.  
Professor Higgs opened the doors, and Ted searched his usual place near the window. A watery sun did it’s very best to break through the thick layer of clouds. Ted enjoyed the warm rays on his face while he was listening to professor Higgs welcoming speech.  
Before beginning with the new lessons, professor Higgs wanted everyone to demonstrate that they hadn't forgot a thing from the past two years. Everybody needed some polishing, except for one person: Oliver Scrimgeour. At Durmstrang’s school for wizardry, they appear to teach their students to transform bigger animals in their second year, something Hogwarts students only started with in their third year. Scrimgeour loudly complained about the fact that he was way ahead on the other students, and started to entertain himself by transforming the given beetles into completely different things then the required buttons. He produced a thimble, a marble and a pair of monocles. It was common known that turning beetles into buttons was one of the easiest transformation you could perform on a beetle. Scrimgeour pulled all attention towards him, Sltytherin students in admiration, Gryffindor students in suppressed rage.  
Professor Higgs had ignored the behavior of Scrimgeour, but with almost nobody producing a proper button –Ted’s one still had three of his feet- he walked to Scrimgeours desk to admonish him. “Mister Scrimgeour, would you stop that performance of your little tricks and follow the class guidelines?” he asked firm.  
Scrimgeour pulled an eyebrow while looking at the professor.  
Professor Higgs was surprised by this bold reaction, he wasn't used to this kind of rebellion. Professor Higgs was known for his capability of keeping control over every class and not tolerating any misbehavior. No student would think of revolting against Higgs. And Scrimgeour was about to find out that he messed with the wrong teacher.  
“Congratulations, mister Scrimgeour. One day at Hogwarts, and you've already lost your house a point. I will not tolerate such behavior in my classroom. I don’t know about your Durmstrang teacher, but I see transformation as one of the most delicate and risky kinds of magic. In my class, you will follow my guidelines and no other. Now, I want you to give me your wand, which you can retrieve at the end of class. For the rest of the time, you can think about your place in this classroom and how to behave like it. I want a ten centimeter essay on that tomorrow morning on my desk. Everybody else, return to your exercises.”  
Gina turned her head towards Ted and a smile appeared on their faces. After that sermon, they didn't dare to speak any more. But that was unnecessary. They both knew Oliver Scrimgeour got what he deserved.

Ted was starving and rushed to the big hall to find something to eat. He and Gina were joined by a soaking wet and moody Eric.  
“It should be a rule that Care of Magical Creature is cancelled when it rains” he grumbled.  
Gina laughed, and took her wand and blew some hot air out of it. Eric gave her a grateful smile and attacked the platter with sausages.  
“You could easily have done that yourself, you know.” She told him. But Eric wasn't listening. It looked like he was attempting to break the record of eating as much sausages in a minute.  
Ted figured it was safe now to talk to Eric about Scrimgeour. He told Eric about the fake-friendly presentation of Scrimgeour and about the confrontation with professor Higgs.  
Eric was about to pour ketchup over his sausages when he heard about the rebellious behavior. He looked up to Ted in disbelief and his arm with the ketchup can stopped moving. Gina took over the can and placed it back on the table, before Eric poured all the continence over his sausages.  
“Have you met him before?” she asked  
Eric told her about their little confrontation in the train, only exaggerating a few parts of it.  
“Well, he sure fits his house. Little creep!” Gina shivered.  
“I wonder why he changed school. With that attitude, I don’t think he was happy to leave Durmstrang.” Eric’s eyes focused on the magical ceiling.  
“Maybe he got kicked out?” Ted suggested.  
“Hmm, that doesn't seem quite possible. I've never heard of a Durmstrang student getting kicked out of school. Since the Great War, they barely haven’t got any students left. I don’t think they can afford to miss any more students.” Eric tapped his fingers on the table. “His name sounds familiar for me, but I don’t know wherefrom.”  
“Have you any idea where you might have heard it?” Gina asked.  
“No, but I do remember it was somewhere last year or the year before.” Eric was frustrated that he couldn’t remember. “Anyhow, I have herbology next, so I have to leave if I don’t want to be late.”  
“Bad luck for you, it has stopped raining” Gina grinned.  
Eric pulled a face before leaving with the other fourth-years. 

Ted and Gina had no lessons and they went outside to see if Hagrid was home, enjoying their last bits of holiday.  
Hagrid was like part of the Weasley family. In summer, all Weasleys gathered with grandma and grandpa Weasley for a whole week and Hagrid was always there as well. Ted and Gina visited Hagrid almost every week during the school year. And this year, they would see Hagrid even more, since they had care for magical creatures for the first year. Since Eric told nothing but exciting stories about these classes, they couldn’t wait to have these lessons as well.  
Hagrid was busy scattering some flesh-eating slug repellent over the coals and pumpkins. They greeted him from a distance, so that he wouldn’t get scared. Hagrids hearing wasn't that well and he never heard anyone coming behind his back. When people started talking to him when they were already next to him, he usually was startled because of the sudden sound  
“Well hi, there!” Hagrid stopped scattering the repellent and placed the can on one of the pumpkins. “How were the holidays, boring as a flobberworm I bet’ya!”  
They didn't reply on that little joke of Hagrids, but gave him a bright smile.  
They went inside for a cup of thee and told about their holidays, that weren't boring at all.  
Three cups later, Hagrid brought the subject to his lessons, which they would attend next Thursday.  
“So? Yer’ excited?” Hagrid informed.  
They assured him they were more than excited, and wondered which creatures they would study first. But Hagrid would keep his mouth shut, so they returned to the dormitory after another two cups and some home-made toffee.  
Eric didn't know what his aunt and uncles always complained about. He really enjoyed Hagrids homemade toffee, but if he was to believe Ron, Harry and Hermione, the toffee wasn't edible before leaving it in front of the stove for a couple of hours.

The common room was filled with students greeting each other after the holidays. Either, one small group of students was sitting at the tables, searching through books and writing long pieces of parchment. One of them was Eric, and he looked even moodier than when he returned from Care of Magical Creatures this noon.  
Ted moved towards him and took a place on the chair next to Eric.  
“You are doing homework? On the first day of the semester?”  
Ted was stunned by the sight of the always procrastinating Eric working on the first day.  
“You know those little calendars we get, don’t you?”  
Ted nodded. Each student was given a Hogwarts calendar. If teachers had anything to say before the next class, they could leave a note in the calendar, that would appear in the calendars from the students who needed to read the message.  
“well, professor Binns successfully left a note for us. He expects us to hand in fifty centimeters of parchment about what we learned last year in his lessons!”  
Eric was clearly not happy with this, and he muttered and complained to nobody in particular, so Ted left him to his work and went upstairs to the dormitory.  
He started unpacking his stuff, but after a good five minutes, Eric came bursting into the room.  
“I know it! I know it!” he screamed euphoric.  
“Err, you know what?” Ted askes  
“The name, Scrimgeour, I know where I know it from! The former minister, the last one from during the war, was called Scrimgeour. He lost his position and after some scandalous things in the papers, he left the country, never to be seen again.”  
Ted was startled.  
“But why would he leave the country, what happened that was so bad?”  
“I don’t know” Eric confessed.  
“And why would his son come back and come to Hogwarts, though he doesn’t seem to like it here?”  
“Again, I don’t know. But if the minister is back, shouldn't the papers ‘ve written something about it?”  
“Maybe, but I don’t read papers, so I can’t tell if they know.”  
Eric stared to his parchment, as if the answer would appear on it.  
“There’s only one way to find out.” Eric decided, “Thomas! Hey, Thomas!”  
A boy with black curled hair looked up from his books. “What?”  
“Have you seen anything in the papers about the past few ministers of magic?”  
The boy seemed a bit upset. “No, nothing at all, I've looked through the papers of the last three months, but nothing in there. Only that today’s minister has got a new assistant. But nothing more.”  
“All right! Thanks bud!”  
Thomas continued with his work, slightly irritated that he was disturbed by Eric.  
Eric looked pleased with the answer, but Ted didn’t understand.  
“Thomas has looked up some papers to get some extra information for our assignment. Now we know for sure, the papers have no idea that Scrimgeour junior is back in the country. We need to find out if his dad is back as well.”  
Ted pulled his eyebrows. “And why is that?”  
He didn't ran of all those years ago for nothing. I can’t remember what it was, but it wasn't nice, I can tell you that! People say that he’d gone mad after the paper scandal. We wouldn't want a loony ex-minister to be back without anyone knowing it, would we?”  
Ted agreed that there might be a possible risk of slight danger. He also knew that Eric wouldn't let the case rest, and that's the main reason why he agreed on finding out more about the Scrimgeours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I've made any mistakes in my writing, please excuse me! English is not my mother tongue, so I apologize if I make mistakes on the syntax or the spelling.  
> Feel free to correct me and to give suggestions on the continuing of the story!  
> Oh, and last but not least, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
